VADODARA: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) opposition has raised the issue of the contract for the city bus service being awarded without any bids to the existing operator with a minor rise in the annual premium.

The operator Vitcos Pvt Ltd has been operating the bus service since five years after it got the contract in 2008. It earlier paid Rs 18.55 lakh as annual premium that is proposed to be revised to Rs 19.62 lakh. But the operator has shot a letter to the VMC demanding that the premium be done away with. It has also given a list of demands that it wants to be fulfilled before starting the service again.

Opposition leader and Congress councillor Chandrakant Shrivastava said that the civic body should not bow down to such tactics. Shrivastava demanded that fresh bids should be invited for the service. This, he said, would bring competition and the VMC would not have to budge under pressure.

At the other end, sources said that there were few operators who were willing to run such services. "Nobody came forward for the service in Rajkot and eventually Vitcos was given the task there. Even it had to wind up the service as it was unviable within two months of commencement. Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is struggling to find a contractor to run the service there. It has reduced the premium and deposit amounts drastically to find one," said the official.